NEWSWIRE

MINISTER GHOSAL MESSAGE TO CANADIAN CRICKET FANS

OTTAWA, March 22, 2012– On Tuesday, Cricket Team Canada won their match against Nepal at the International Cricket Council World T–20 Qualifier. Today, they will face the team from Ireland to contend for an opportunity to compete for a top‑20 world ranking.

As the single largest contributor to sport in Canada, our Government is proud to support Cricket Canada in its goal of further developing the sport of cricket in this country, including increasing their school programs and promoting the participation of women and girls in the sport. In fact, our government was the first to provide program funding from Sport Canada’s Sport Support Program to Cricket Canada in 2007.

We also appreciate the work of the International Cricket Council and their efforts to help Cricket Canada grow and develop the game in Canada. In 2009, over 20,000 children played cricket in both school and community-based development programs. At the high-performance level, Canada has qualified to compete in the past three Cricket World Cups.

As Minister of State (Sport), I offer my best wishes to the members of Cricket Team Canada in their decisive game against Ireland today. Canadians across the country are proud of how far their talent, determination and teamwork have taken them so far.